Nik Hamby

I finished off the month with another set at Banshees. The venue is going through a change of ownership and Ken’s last night is Friday, 1 April. I wanted to be there for the end of his time at Banshees. I started off with "Drifting on the Window Seat" and went on to "Only 4 You", which is a new song. I played "No Place to Go" and "Breathe, Miss Sunshine" then finished up with "Say Goodbye".  My performance was well received and I enjoyed the night. I’m anticipating changes and welcome whatever comes. Bring it on. 

Three months into the year already!  Lots of good stuff happening.  I had a quick trip down to NSW in January to meet my new grand-daughter.  My guitar would have needed a plane ticket, so I decided to save $500-600 and bought a cheapie from a Canberra pawn shop after landing, then sold it back a few days later! My wife and I did a longer road-trip in February/March and I took my Gibson with me. Nice to play a few songs at the end of the day's driving and exploring.    More live music after our big holiday trip. On Wednesday, 9 March I went out the Banshees Bar and Artspace and played a few songs. Had a great night and was playing my second guitar as the Gibson had a buzz (that I've since fixed). I played two new songs, The Mountain and No Place to Go - and three older songs:  Breathe, Miss Sunshine, Drifting on the Window Seat, and The Magician. Altogether it was a great night. My friend Steve took some photos too. I did a bit of video for him. Looking...

Back in May, I entered six songs into six categories of the 2021 Australian Songwriting Contest. I received a great email on Tuesday, confirming "bragging rights at Christmas lunch" - three of my songs have been shortlisted! How good is that?!  The songs that made it through are:-  "Where We Will Meet Again" (Country), "The Last" (Folk) and "A Dog's Sadness" (Open).  All songs feature on The Magician album.   I'll be keeping an eye on the ASA website for the late Jan/early Feb announcement of the official Top 30 - which is the next phase of the judging process.   You can check the site too, if you're keen!   www.asai.org.au (Last year two songs were shortlisted from three entries and one of those went on to Top 30 status).   A good friend also had her song shortlisted in the country category, so that was extra happy news!  Chookas to entrants!

My Final Release for 2021 came out last week, on 16 December.  Walk My Way is the title track - a song about going through a near-death experience, which changed my life and my perspective on living. The other songs are:  The Key Was on The Hook, Wind in the Trees, Mona, Grandma's Chest of Drawers, Another Mother's Day, Childhood Songs, Wish You Merry Christmas, Once More Unto The Breach and As Time Goes By.  This group of songs is really how I feel about my music. It's about the freedom you take hold of when you can do whatever you feel like. I'm not trying to "Make It". I'm not trying to play to an audience or walk the popular line. I write what comes up and out of me, confident that I'm not alone feeling the way I do.  I have played a lot of these songs on Zoom live nights and also played a couple last week at Banshees Bar. There was more encouragement and I even had a punter let me know I was easily good enough to play in the local pub scene, offer...

The Magician was a song written in August 2020 and released on 30 October 2020. As the title track of my second 10-track album, it carries the theme of connection through the album.  Other tracks on the album are:  Look In My Eyes, Song Dreaming, How Much You Mean to Me, Breathe Miss Sunshine, The UK Strain, A Dog’s Sadness, Say Goodbye, Where We Will Meet Again and The Last.  All of these songs were written about connecting with emotional circumstances. Each carries an intimate message of understanding - from happy memories of youth right through to the tail end of life.  Every song on the album have been played by Casey Radio 3SER (97.7 FM), most as pre-release specials.  The album was released on 1 December at midnight. I had played a set at Banshees Bar in Ipswich that night and remembered to announce the release of the album, after playing most of the songs from it. There was a lot of interest and discussion about the project.   The Magician has b...

Drifting On The Window Seat released at midnight (Brisbane time)!  This first album encompasses a period of my writing and is a bit like drifting.  There are lots of supposed genre types, though I call my genre singer/songwriter.  There are a variety of songs on the album, from the huge list of singles I have released. The ten songs represent a body of work that I am so happy with. Lots of these songs are forays into different techniques and writing methods.  On 1 December I will be releasing a second ten-track album titled "The Magician" - and then a third on the 15 December, titled "Walk My Way".  I planned to release more singles before the end of the year but I really needed to organise my existing titles so folks had an easier way of accessing all my music.  It's my intention to produce a YouTube video that covers each of my albums and the whys, hows and whos of their creation - as well as what brings them together. These outlines are mostly for my own...

Hi all - just keeping you abreast of what I've been doing.  Two weeks ago I played a few songs in the ASA (Australian Songwriters Association) National ZOOM concert. It was a great event and I really enjoyed it.  Last night I stepped out again and headed to Salisbury Community Sports Club for another Open Mic event. I performed two sets, playing seven songs it total.  (As usual, links for the released songs are below). The first set was a bit rough but I was much more relaxed for the second.  The usual sort of talent was there, with most doing covers. It was a totally different crowd to Banshee's and it was good to get feedback from the different audience. Lots of positive comments from other performers, the organiser - and sound guy too.   There were quite a few people about. Rebecca and I had dinner and a few drinks (not enough to compromise safe driving) - and Rebecca took some photos.   I'm looking forward to the next adventure.